ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills have two new veteran wide receivers this season in Joshua Palmer and Elijah Moore, both with something to prove.
“The biggest thing was I wanted to be a part of a team that wanted me, so I’m excited for what my career will be like in Buffalo,” Palmer said inside the team’s practice fieldhouse in Orchard Park.
“Just a great group that I’ve been watching behind the scenes for a while,” Moore added. “I’ve been playing against them since I was with the Jets. I got to see it up close and personal.”
Palmer and Moore share several similarities. Of course, they play the same position. They are both 25 years old, both going into their fifth NFL season and both joining one of the top teams in the league as free agents.
“This is new to both of us, but at the same time, we get to attack it like what we know,” Moore said. “Where we worked out at and basically where we grew up in a sense together, definitely know what it’s like to work hard.”
This isn’t the first time the two have shared a locker room. Their history together dates to 2016, when Palmer and Moore played on the same high school football team at Florida powerhouse and state champion St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale.
“I always thought Elijah was like, oh that little, short guy with a lot of swag,” Palmer said of Moore while recalling their early interactions. “The way he would just walk around. He just had a swag to him.”
“Quiet. Same way he is now,” Moore remembered Palmer. “Credit to that because everybody has to adapt and change and be the person that they have to be in their environment. But he’s the same exact person since I met him in high school.”
While Moore grew up in Florida, Palmer’s path took him from his native Brampton, Ontario to join a program more than 2,000 miles away from home.
“I was in a position where I had to get better and get better fast just because there was a lot of guys in South Florida that were very good,” Palmer said.
The pair pushed each other then, much like they plan to do now in their new surroundings.
“I would say the most competitive that it could get because everybody’s going to make the play,” Moore said. “I guess it’s about who makes the play more consistently and that just brings the best out of everyone.”
An environment that prepared them both for what was to come. Fast forward through college (Palmer at Tennessee, Moore at Ole Miss) and four seasons in the NFL (Palmer with the Chargers, Moore with the Jets and Browns), they’ve reunited in Buffalo.
They sat next to each other to share memories and look to the future with Spectrum News 1:
“Closest person I am with on the team. Most familiar face,” Moore said.
“Hours of conversations,” Palmer added.
“Getting really to understand each other now better than we did before. We’re grown men. We’re here. We’re blessed,” Moore responded.
“At first it was a like a four-hour conversation,” Palmer said of their talks once both had signed with the Bills.
“We got to catch up, for sure,” Moore said.
Closer now than ever — united in their goals to be the best. Their career stats are strikingly similar. Moore, a second-round pick of the Jets in 2021, has recorded 200 catches, 2,162 yards and nine touchdowns. Palmer, a 2021 third-round selection, had 10 touchdowns on 182 receptions with 2,287 yards in Los Angeles.
“As good as we want to be. We have a lot of talent. I think this team likes to exploit the talents of each player,” Palmer said.
Both are happy to join the ranks of a group whose motto is “everybody eats,” meaning each receiver takes a piece of the action, no matter how it’s divided, with MVP-quarterback Josh Allen dishing out the feast.
“I think the sky is not even the limit. A great group of guys, part of the reason why I even came here. Most people think, the world doesn’t really understand that you need other guys to even do good,” Moore said.
Always good to have a little help from a friend.